Wind power companies are taking a bird’s eye view in siting new turbines in the Altamont Pass.As a major re-powering effort gets underway to replace 50-year-old windmills with fewer and larger ones, the companies are making use of new techniques in risk mapping to avoid the numbers of raptor deaths that have become part of the political fabric of the Altamont Wind Resource Area.

When the LA Times was looking to do a story about the perils of wind energy for birds, including condors near the Tehachapi Mountains, they traveled north to visit Doug Bell and Joe DiDonato, who have spent decades studying raptor fatalities at the wind turbines at Altamont Pass. Last week, I got to head out into the field to see how this work is done.

The Marin Headlands is justifiably renowned as a great place to see raptors. But did you know that the world’s highest density of breeding golden eagles is found near Altamont Pass? Indeed, the East Bay is a prime location for observing and studying native raptors, from prairie falcons nesting on cliffs near Mount Diablo to bald eagles fishing in local reservoirs and Cooper’s hawks snatching prey out of the air above the streets of Berkeley.